Travelling to every country (except 1)

 

At the tender age of ten and dare I say that being a naive child when I conjured up my ultimate dream to climb every mountain and to visit every country in the world (have failed so far on both counts) I had absolutely no idea how on earth would I fulfil either of these. Soon I realized that the former was downright impossible and improbable while the latter was nearly so.

So I took every opportunity offered or created when none was forthcoming to do exactly that. To boldly climb mountains that are rarely climbed and to go wherever I could. I firmly belief that if we do pursue our dreams with single minded dedication and focus, where no obstacle seem to be so and where we listen to none except our own beating heart, then life does open incredible doors and bring us on a collision course with incredible people who would open those doors for us. Therefore I knew that if I never veered away from my dreams then no matter what, no matter when, they would surely begin to unravel and I would find them bit by bit. To always believe and to never give up were and are my mantras. Following is a nutshell account of opportunities that came knocking and how I ended up going to every country in the world (except one).

due to my military service – I joined the Indian Navy to fulfil one of my childhood dreams, to become a submariner. My dream was born after reading a graphic book of the famous Twenty Thousand leagues under the sea. The day I reported at the officer’s training academy I had no idea that the dream of becoming a submariner would pave the path to many of my other dreams. But it did. Over the next 24 years of my chequered naval career, I was able to travel freely and often free to over 70 countries. I did long deputations to Europe, Central Asia and North America and utilized every moment to travel to all the mountains that I could in all the surrounding countries. The circumnavigation in a sail boat took me to some of the remotest and least accessible island nations through all the oceans. On my own, I wouldn’t have been able to go to most of these islands, scattered and remote as they were. Often travelling with a diplomatic or official passport I didn’t have to have any visa or such things. Which further facilitated my travels.

for climbing (not necessarily for travelling) – most of the countries with mountains soaring above 6000m were mainly for climbing. Here I was fulfilling my twin dreams piggybacking one on the other. So the first dream of climbing every mountain, which took me to new countries, automatically paved the path for the countries, and I visited countries with the primary aim of climbing to the highest point of each one. In which I have been mostly successful till date.

for travelling (not necessarily for climbing) – one of my most insane enterprise ever was to walk the length of Africa at the age of 17 and on that trip, we went through 19 countries, starting from Tunisia and ending in South Africa. Borders were porous then and people more trustworthy and we just walked through nearly unchecked and unchallenged. Thereafter all the countries with small mountains I went to tick off the list, though did climb the highest point if I could.

First country I visited was France at the age of 14 and the last (new) country I visited was Malta in at the age of 55. Now I am only on repeat mode, revisiting countries I have already been.

countries I travel often – though I haven’t kept a count but Switzerland must be the country I have visited most often, closely followed by the US, Nepal, UK, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and most of the European countries with 4000m peaks. In Africa I keep returning to Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.

countries I have visited only once and have no desire to return – there must be over 50 nations that I have visited only once and have no desire to return. These are small countries without any significant hills to hike or island countries, often far flung across the Pacific or in the African hinterland. Several names pop up rapidly in my mind – Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Nauru, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Uruguay, Paraguay, Guyana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Sudan, Myanmar, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Cyprus, Moldova, Belarus, Dominic Republic, Cuba, East Timor, Angola, Libya, etc.

There are also several countries I have lived longer than three months, some of them being – Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, USA, Germany, South Africa, Iceland, Sri Lanka, etc. (I cannot divulge how I got a resident permit to stay and what was I exactly doing, suffice to say I was climbing, hiking exploring the mountains of these regions between work).

Some of the countries that I visited were purely fortuitous (at the time I visited), because I would have gone there at some point of time nevertheless. But I just got an opportunity (sponsored trip, paid gig, talk or a conference, etc) and I went. Some countries that readily comes to mind include – UAE, Oman, Azerbaijan, San Marino, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Brazil, Grenada, Philippines, etc.

There is one country which I have entered unofficially, which means there was no visa and I didn’t have a passport or any form of ID upon me when I was in that country. I had entered through a high mountain range and had stayed in that country for less than a day. Which technically means I wasn’t in that country (my self imposed rule for counting a country is when I have spent at least 48 continuous hours in a country). Yet I count this particular country because this country will never grant me a visa to go where I wish to go in that country. I am not at liberty to name this country, but those who know me would realize which country I allude to.

And then let’s come to the only one country I have never been to and would not go to, therefore leaving my country list incomplete. But I am ok with it because this is my conscious choice. If I wish I can go to that country any day. There’s no visa issue. I am referring to North Korea. My reason for not going to this country is obvious. With zero degree of freedom allowed to visiting tourists where I won’t have any choice over where I stay, what I visit, what I eat and what I read or hear, where I cannot even make eye contact with a local, where I will always be spied upon openly, it would be like in a prison. And in such a country I cannot go. The nearest I have gone to North Korea is across the DMZ viewed from the South Korean side. And that is the only country citizen I have never met in my life anywhere during my travels.

Besides the UN list of 193 countries that are officially recognized as countries, I have been to many of the countries that are self proclaimed countries or principalities that are accepted as either UN under observation states or only by some of the UN members. So these are not yet officially countries in the manner of speaking yet enjoy some sort of autonomy and international recognition. Some of these being Palestine, Vatican, North Cyprus, Kosovo, Taiwan.

With that I would like to sum up.

The world is a fine place when viewed as a whole and not politically and emotionally divided as we find it. It is an amazing planet, with adequate resources to feed, shelter and protect us all, just like a mother who is impartial to all her children. Be it black, white, brown or yellow, poor or rich, able or destitute, blind or visually gifted, speaking any of the 6000 tongues that we now have, staying wherever we might be, or following any belief in God, we all are equally accepted and benefited by our mother Earth. I do not understand even now, more so, why we cannot trust and share with our own species. Why we cannot embrace our own diversity and differences and rejoice at our magnificent opportunities. Why do we kill and rob when we ourselves are going to die one day and no one will take anything with them into the next world, if there is any. Why do we have unequal opportunities, why are we treated differently purely based upon a random act of being born at a certain location or to a particular set of parents, over which we had no control or choice. Why do we divide our hearts and why do we hate each other.

I have no answer to these. Within my heart I feel at home everywhere and everyone a friend and family. Thankfully I am yet to come across a single person in this planet who hadn’t been kind to me, or who despised me, hated me or wanted to cause me any harm. Even if someone did, they soon gave up such efforts. Perhaps the trick lies within me, because I keep an open heart and a big smile, because I believe in the goodness of humanity at large, even if it is missing in some parts. After all what choice do we have but to keep the faith that our tomorrow would be better than our today.

With that hope and rekindled faith, I would take my leave. Keep your hearts and doors open my friends, for soon enough you might find me at your home, seeking nothing but some shelter and food and a tiny space to rest my wary limbs. For I won’t stay long. I cannot stay long. I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep. I love you all.

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